Unit lesson Independence Day of Uzbekistan Reading: Birthday of new Independent Republic of Uzbekistan. Speaking

A Global Food Journey

In 2014, French photographer Matthieu Paley set out to explore the world of food. His travels took him through jungles, over mountains, and beneath the sea. He went on the journey to explore how our environment affects the food we eat—and how our diet1 shapes our culture. Paley shared his experiences in a visual food diary, called We Are What We Eat.

Paley saw how food plays an important role in people’s lives all over the world. In Greenland, he went seal hunting with the Inuit to catch food for dinner. He gathered honey from trees with the Hazda people of Tanzania. And in Malaysian Borneo, he went diving to catch sea urchins and octopuses.
In Crete—the largest island in Greece—Paley enjoyed a typical Mediterranean family meal. On the following page is an excerpt from his diary.
I am at the Moschonas’ home for their Saturday family gathering. Everyone was working in the fields this afternoon, and there is a pile of fresh wild herbs on the table. The family welcomes me, and the conversation is loud and lively. I feel right at home.
“Now, we make kalitsounia!” says Stella. These are small fried pies filled with wild herbs called horta. In Crete, April has been a time to pick horta for thousands of years. Stella prepares dough on the table. She cuts it into small squares and wraps the herbs. Then she fries the little pies in olive oil.
Someone takes a large bucket of snails from the freezer. The Moschonas eat snails all year round. They are probably the oldest food eaten by humans. Snails may also be the easiest to catch, because you just go for a walk, turn over some rocks, and there they are.
" And they are full of Omega 3, no fat on that meat either!” Stella says. She’ll prepare the snails with a thick sauce. She offers me a kalitsounia, hot out of the pan.
“Tell me about the horta,” I ask. “What did you pick today?”
Leaning over the table, Stella says with a smile, “Oh, there are over 20 types of herbs out there, if you know where to find them. And I know them all by name!”
My plate is filled with snails. On the table, there are also beans, small fried fish, and another vegetable. It looks like tiny asparagus, and has a bitter taste. Manolis sits next to me. He points at the dish. “This one is medicament. Medicine!” He says, “Eat a ton of it!” I try it. “We call these avronies … only in this season,” he says. “You are a lucky man!”